Brisbane, November 14
It was a bright and sunny day at Brisbane on Friday as Prime Minister Narendra Modi stepped out of his Special Air India plane at the international airport after an overnight flight from Myanmar capital Nay Phi Taw where he attended two back-to-back international summits and had a string of bilateral meetings.

“Reached Brisbane. It is bright and sunny outside,” Modi tweeted. Modi, who is the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Australia in 28 years since Rajiv Gandhi in 1986, arrived here on a five-day trip to Australia on the second leg of his 10-day three-nation tour.

Modi will push for stepping up global cooperation against the key issue of cross-border tax avoidance and evasion at the G20 summit starting here on Saturday. “A key issue for me would be to highlight the importance of international cooperation against black money,” Modi had said.

In a reflection of the exceptionally warm and friendly equations they share, Japanese Premier Shinzo Abe hosted a dinner tonight for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Both Modi and Abe are here to take part in the G20 Summit starting tomorrow.

“Happy to meet you once again,” Modi told Abe during their dinner meeting.

Modi will undertake a bilateral visit to the Australian capital Canberra for talks with Premier Tony Abbott on Tuesday.

The PM will also utilise the two-day 9th G20 summit of the world’s biggest developed and emerging economies, to flag India’s concerns over “jobless growth” prospects.

Ahead of the summit, Modi had also said he intended to discuss how G20 could accelerate creation of next generation infrastructure, which also includes digital infrastructure and ensure access to clean and affordable energy.

The G20 includes 19 individual countries — Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the UK and the US — and the European Union (EU). — PTI